New Program Improves Patient Care by Sending Nurses Back to School

A new program offered by Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital and Loma Linda University School of Nursing is helping to improve patient care by sending staff nurses who do not have a baccalaureate degree back to school. According to Helen Staples-Evans, DNP, chief nursing officer, says “hospitals that hire predominantly baccalaureate degree nurses have better outcomes.” She backs up her comments with a 2010 report issued by the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Based on a study of 134 acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania, the report concluded that: •For each 10 percent increase in the proportion of nurses with baccalaureate degrees the risk of mortality and of failure to rescue decreased by 5 percent •Surgical patients in hospitals with higher proportions of baccalaureate degree nurses experienced a higher survival advantage •If all participating hospitals had increased their proportion of baccalaureate degree nurses by 10 percent during the seven-year study, an estimated 500 deaths might have been prevented The report recommends that hospitals increase the percentage of baccalaureate degree nurses to at least 80 percent of total nursing staff by the year 2020. Staples-Evans notes that Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital recently implemented two new policies to achieve that goal and improve patient outcomes. First, all hiring of entry-level registered nurses is now limited to those with baccalaureate degrees. Second, current staff nurses with an associate of science degree may apply to obtain a baccalaureate degree through Loma Linda University School of Nursing. Employees who are accepted into the program are eligible for complete funding of the upgrade. Staples-Evans notes that the program is not limited to Children’s Hospital nurses, but is open to associates degree nurses from any Loma Linda University Health entity including, but not limited to, the Behavioral Medical Center, Surgical Hospital, East Campus, University Hospital and Murrieta facilities. So far, she says 38 nurses have been approved by the hospital and school and are enrolled in the program. Another 19 are awaiting approval by the school. Maureen Hokama, night shift charge nurse on the Leonard Bailey Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, was the first to apply. As a full-time nurse, wife and mother of three, Hokama wondered how she could squeeze the program into her schedule. But after beginning her studies, she says things are actually working out quite well. “I can go at my own pace,” Hokama reports. “The good part is that I can mix face-to-face courses with online classes. I’m very grateful for this opportunity and I appreciate the flexibility to fit it into my life commitments.” Staples-Evans says enrollment will remain open until December 31, 2017, and will be limited to a total of 90 participants. “We’re very excited about the opportunity to offer this to our staff,” she concludes. “We want to develop knowledgeable, strong, risk-taking nurse leaders who are able to provide visionary leadership. This will help us do that.”